Dealing with latex casts. The installation of Jorge Otero Pailos and its conservation issues.

The latex casts obtained by Jorge Otero Pailos from the principal wall of the Alumix Factory in Bolzano - Northern Italy are part of a series of site-specific installations called The Ethics of Dust. This cycle of works is focused on the cultural value of the dust deposited on the surface, conceived as main witness of the building’s significance. The artist used a latex-based cleaning paste to detach dirt, pollution and plaster fragments sedimented on the surface of historical buildings, obtaining a kind of “latex skin” which embodies the story of the masonry’s inner life. By peeling layers of dust from walls, Otero Pailos created ephemeral maps of architectural surfaces. For that reason, the significance of the installation looks deeply linked to the concept of memory. In 2008, Otero Pailos was invited by the Raqs Media Collective to participate at Manifesta Biennial of Art, located in a dismissed metalworking factory based in Bolzano. On that occasion, the artist conceived an installation consisting of 175 latex panelsthat incorporated the dirt of one of the walls. The casts were exhibited attached to a metal structure, in order to reproduce the masonry’s structure, so that the visitor could see simultaneously the wall and its history on the back of the latex panels. After the display, the panels were stored in wooden crates by overlaying the elements separated with paper sheets. During a survey in 2017, it was found that the panels were quickly degrading: in less than ten years, the latex began to change its appearance and texture, suggesting the need of action. In 2022, the Contemporary Art Museum of Bolzano planned exhibition based on the theme of memory. On that occasion, after a previous intervention focused on the preventive conservation of the casts, the panels were studied and conserved with the intent of showing at least a selected part of the installation. It turned out that the changing of the work’s aspect was attributable both to inherent characteristics of the latex and to the interaction of the constitutive materials with atmosphere and light. The most serious damages affected the flexibility and the thickness of the pieces, which appeared unevenly stiff and thinned. Those features caused breaking phenomena, tears in the latex surface and loss of material, which translated into a substantial weakness of the casts. In order to exhibit the panels in a safe way, the intervention mainly focused on the treatment of tears and on the reintegration of latex lacunas. The conservation work also aimed to slow down some of the mentioned morphologies of decay, despite the awareness that the degradations caused by internal modifications of the materials or by the photochemical action could not be treated thoroughly in this context. The greatest challenge was to find a suitable adhesive for the tear treatment and an appropriate product for the loss filling. Thanks to a sample of the original latex-based cleaning paste supplied by Jorge Otero Pailos, some mockups have been realized. The process was finalized to understand the mechanical behavior and the aesthetical response of the original latex to the application of a selected range of adhesives or filling materials. At the end of our investigation, which was based on empirical evidences, a methodology in response to the conservation issues was found and then put into practice on the panels of the installation. Thanks to this work, it was possible to safely exhibit The Ethics of Dust – Alumix Factory casts in the Passage room of Museion from 25th of March to 4th of September 2022.